Petroleum Minister given wrong info by his officials

By Saman Indrajith-November 26, 2013, 9:25 pm 

Petroleum Industries Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa was disappointed with his own officials who had provided him with a wrong answer to a query raised by JVP Parliamentary Group Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, during the question time in parliament yesterday.

MP Dissanayake asked a question listed on the Order Paper, demanding to know the average import price (CIF Value) per MT, at which petrol had been imported in February 2013. The minister, armed with a file, provided to him by his officials, responded that it was Rs. 149.50.

Then, the MP pointed out the cost the minister mentioned contained taxes.

Dissanayake pointed out that the officials had taken the minister for a ride and given him the wrong details, but the minister insisted that he was reading out the official figures and details given to him by responsible officers in his ministry.

The minister said that the price value of Rs. 149.50 had been recorded as the average price of a litre of petrol at the time of unloading the fuel at the port in February 2013.

As the MP continued to maintain that the minister was reading out wrong information, the minister promised to give a detailed response in the future.

The Minister said that to import a metric ton of petrol it cost Rs. 144,578.11 in February 2013 and each metric ton contained 1,377.438 litres.

The minister also added that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation suffered a loss of Rs. 3.14 from each litre of petrol it sells.

Gota’s Ex-Security Personnel’s Company Can Invest Funds Without Treasury Approval – COPE

A Company under the Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa can invest funds without obtaining the Treasury approval, a parliamentary committee said.

The Committee on Public Enterprises said in its latest report to the Parliament that the ‘Rakna Arakshana Lanka Ltd.’  runs under the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development ‘being a private company, it was not required to obtain Treasury approval and the problem had been regularized by obtaining the approval of the Board of Directors.’

The Committee enquired about the category of personnel who were recruited to the Company.

Under the subheading “Comments & Decisions of the COPE” the report said;  “It was stated that the ex- security personnel those who have retired or legally resigned from the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and Police Service were recruited and they were being paid a salary in addition to their pension.”

Gota to Killi’s rescue!

 Wednesday, 27 November 2013 

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has ordered that no state or private media should publish the news pertaining to the Matara magistrate’s court having issued notice on November 25 to Sirasa Media Network owner Killi Maharaja to appear before the court on December 11. 

General manager of Sirasa Media Network Shevaan Daniels has spoken to media institutions with which he is on friendly terms and requested that the news be not carried.

But, the journalists had disregarded the request and electronic media has carried the news.

Angered by that, the defence secretary has spoken to all media institutions and ordered that they should not carry the news that Killi Maharaja has been ordered to appear before courts.

All media had complied with the order, except for ‘Lakbima’ newspaper owned by Thilanga Sumathipala, which has safeguarded its integrity. Since the appointment of senior journalist Saman Wagaarachchi as its editor, ‘Lakbima’ has been following an independent editorial policy, which has put the Rajapaksas in a rage. At the recent meeting with newspaper editors, the president has patted the ‘Lakbima’ editor on the back and said with all smiles, “Your paper is now more hard-hitting than before.”

John De Silva theater demolished ; Lumbini theater also to follow suit – no alternative theaters erected - Parakrama Niriella

(Lanka-e-News-27.Nov.2013, 8.30PM Veteran stage drama director Parakrama Niriella had lamented that a theater is not being constructed at the venue of the John De Silva memorial theater, and instead a vehicle park is going to replace it. Besides , the Lumbini theater too is going to be demolished secretly , he had pointed out with deep regret. The stage director revealed this when he attended a function.

Though those responsible for the demolition of the John De Silva theater say another hall is going to be erected, there are no such plans so far, he added.

No building contract Co. had been enlisted nor is there a building materials supplier earmarked for the construction. The John De Silva theater was demolished prior to the CHOGM summit. Yet there is not a single artiste who performed at the theater or produced dramas staging any protest.

In the present climate , when efforts were made recently to hold discussions summoning five artistes in order to rid this fear psychosis , it was unavailing as all of them are fully occupied with doing the sordid biddings of the powers that be, Niriella bemoan.

It is significant to note that the Cultural Minister of the Rajapakse regime , T B Ekanayake who is in charge of these affairs was one who was caught red handed inside a long standing brothel run for many years by most infamously famous ‘Jina madam’, and mind you , what was most startling was, Ekanayake was deemed fit for that post by the Rajapkses only after that disgraceful incident. Hence it is no wonder that this Minister of ‘cultural affairs’ submerged in the vulgar culture cannot appreciate sublime arts and culture or a Hall where dramas were staged at cheap rates for patrons. Consequently, the John De Silva memorial theater was demolished .

It is also unsurprising to witness the proliferation of gambling dens in the country and promotion of three casino Halls by granting them tax concessions by the Rajapakse regime which pedestals casinos and the vulgar culture even jeopardizing the rich culture.

Sri Lankan TID involvement in attacks on Tamil councilors exposed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 November 2013, 01:16 GMT]
A vehicle registered in North Central Province was used in the attack on the houses of Tamil councillors in the early hours of Tuesday in Vadamaraadchi. The attackers’ vehicle number was noted down by one of the neighbours and passed to a rights activist. On Wednesday, the same vehicle was observed at the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Division camp at Nelliyadi. 

The TID investigators act on direct instructions from Colombo. 

In recent times, the TID has established several ‘interrogation offices’ at several places in Jaffna district. 

Sources in Vadamaraadchi gave the registration number of the vehicle as NCPQ-4101.

The vehicle was used in the attacks on the houses of Tamil councillors at Uduppiddi and Kommaanthu’rai.

EPDP chairman of Neduntheevu civic body shot and killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 November 2013, 08:23 GMT]
Tension prevails in Nedun-theevu (Delft) where the president of civic council, Daniel Rexian alias Rajeev, was shot and killed on Tuesday. Although the exact motive behind his killing is not known, civil sources said Mr Rexian was at odds with the occupying Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) on reconstructing a monument in memory of the brutal boat massacre by the SLN, news sources at the farthest inhabited island off the Jaffna Peninsula said on Wednesday. The killing also comes following reports of internal conflict within the EPDP in Neduntheevu. 

The EPDP was quick to claim that “Comrade Rajeev” had committed suicide. But, medical sources that conducted an autopsy rejected the possibility of suicide. An investigation is to follow, the SL police said. 

The SL Navy at Neduntheevu has been opposed to the reconstruction of the memorial site, which was dismantled as the occupying Sri Lankan State was reconstructing Neduntheevu into a tourist resort run by its navy and the EPDP paramilitary. 

However, Mr Rexian, reflected the sentiments of the local people and was engaged erecting the memorial site of the brutal massacre committed by the SL Navy, news sources in the island said. 

On 15 May 1985, 38 Tamil passengers, including a two year old child and three other children, travelling in boat called Kumuthini from Neduntheevu to the Kurikkatuvan Jetty on the island of Punguduthivu were hacked to death by the SL Navy personnel who came in two boats. 

Delft (a name given by the Dutch) is the farthest inhabited island off the Jaffna Peninsula and is the closest to the coast of Tamil Nadu.

Archbishop condemns Casino village in Katana

Wednesday, 27 Nov 2013

Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, condemning the setting up of a Casino village in Katana, said, "The move to establish a casino village will threaten the spiritual mores of even the rural and traditional values still respected in the villages of our motherland."

The Cardinal, releasing a press communiqué, stated, he had been made to understand that the Government of Sri Lanka is making plans to establish a casino village in the Katana area in the Gampaha District in order to attract foreign investments.

"The move to establish a casino village will threaten the spiritual mores of even the rural and traditional values of the villages in our motherland. Hence, I wish to express my protest, and condemnation of this move to sell the spiritual and cultural dignity of Sri Lanka for financial gain.

"Sri Lankan soil fed by the religious traditions of the world's four religions is not on sale, it must be told. And I call upon all those who cherish that to protect and oppose this move strongly, and call upon the government not to go ahead with these plans. Development – yes; but not at the price of our dignity," the Cardinal stated in the release.
SJSJN takes CEA, BOI and Venigros to Court

Wednesday, 27 Nov 2013

The Court of Appeal issued a notice on Wednesday to the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the Board of Investment (BOI) and Venigros (Pvt) Limited, after considering the writ application filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) and a representative of Siyane Jalaya Syurakeema Jana Neguma (SJSJN), regarding the pollution caused by a factory in Rathupaswala, Weliweriya.

The CEJ and the SJSJN filed the writ application bearing No. C.A. 385/13 in the Court of Appeal on 11 November 2013 to seek a writ of mandamus, compelling the Central Environmental Authority and the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka to bring justice to the residents of Rathupaswala. The CEJ and the SJSJN want to take legal action against Venigros (Pvt) Ltd., for the pollution of inland water and soil in Rathupaswala, and for violating the terms and conditions of the Environment Protection Licence (EPL) in the performance of the statutory duty in compliance with the provisions of the National Environmental Act No. 47 of 1980, as amended.

The protesters have stated in their petition that the CEA and the BOI had failed to undertake investigations to ensure compliance with this Act and to investigate complaints relating to non-compliance for the conditions of the EPL. They also go on to declare that the Venigros (Pvt) Ltd., had sent industrial effluents out of the factory which, if not properly treated, are harmful to the environment.

Furthermore, it was stated that some residents from the Nedungamuwa area had complained that they are unable to use their well water for consumption and they have been subjected to various diseases because of the company discharging polluted water. Petitioners have campaigned to issue an order of the nature of a writ of mandamus to relocate the factory as a consequence of the report prepared by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board.

The Court issued the return notice on 27 January 2014 and the case was supported on 26 November 2013.The bench was chaired by Justice Anil Gunarathne and Senior Counsel Ravindranath Dabare with Attorney-at-Law Nimal Wickramasinghe appeared for the petitioners.

Eran drops bombshell in P’ment over public finance

November 27, 2013 

• No evidence of Parliamentary control over finance, says Eran
• UNP MP charges Article 148 has been violated in Legislature for four years
• Claims bloating public sector stifling private sector growth, projects incorrect picture of unemployment figures
• Budget split half and half between Cabinet of Ministers and Rajapaksa family: UNP
• Recalls Budget proposals presented by NM and Ronnie De Mel
• Says no clear-cut economic plan in UPFA Budget 2014

By Ashwin Hemmathagama, Our Lobby Correspondent
The main Opposition United National Party yesterday condemned the Government’s policy to overcrowd the public sector, a move that was in turn stifling the private sector and said there had been no evidence of Parliament’s control over public finance during the life of the current legislature. 
UNP National List Legislator Eran Wickremaratne said the Government’s solution to Sri Lanka’s unemployment problem was providing State sector jobs and exporting citizens to work in insecure and exploitative environments overseas.
Productive job growth can only be established by extending incentives to the private sector, Wickremaratne said.
“There are 1.4 million Government employees. One third of these are with the police and security forces,” the UNP MP revealed in the House.
“You’re essentially distributing relief and donations to State employees from this Budget. This is not a budget. What does it do to improve industries and increase production?” he charged, joining in the Budget debate.
Wickremaratne said a budget should have a clear-cut economic plan, which is absent in the UPFA’s 2014 economic policy statement. “Mahinda Chinthana was launched some years ago, promising various dreams. This Budget is a continuation of those dreams – they are unrealistic and will never come true,” he said.
The UNP Legislator recalled how he had had the opportunity to listen to former finance ministers like Dr. N.M. Perera and Ronnie De Mel who had presented budgets that comprised serious discussions about education, health, economy and finance.
“There is no such discourse here,” Wickremaratne said.
Wickremaratne said that although Article 148 of the Constitution ensures Parliamentary authority over public finance, after four years, he was yet to see evidence of such authority being exercised.
“The Appropriation Bill 2013 was taken to the Supreme Court, which held that Parliament approval is required prior to State borrowing. But the Government has violated this ruling using their 2/3 majority and has also removed the Chief Justice illegally and unceremoniously. COPE has 31 members but only three to four members are present at any given time. This is the same with other committees,” he charged, highlighting the violation of the Constitution.
Wickremaratne charged that 50% of the Budget was being allocated to the Rajapaksa family. “There are 102 Ministers and Deputy Ministers in Parliament. They are allocated 50% of the total Budget and the rest allocated to the Rajapaksa family. At this rate, it will not be long before private properties are confiscated,” he said.

Government ministers race to get CHOGM Benzs

Wednesday, 27 November 2013 

Ministers in President Mahinda Rajapaksa government it is learnt are now trying to scurry favour with the President and his advisors to ensure that they will be allocated once of the 54 luxury Benz S400 vehicles that were imported to the country for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The 54 Benz cars were brought down by the Finance Ministry despite claims by some government ministers that the cars were taken on rent from private companies and would be returned to the respective companies.

However, it is learnt that the government is looking t distributing the 54 cars among the key Rajapaksa loyalists after a few weeks.

Government to now waste more public funds at Carlton Night Races

Wednesday, 27 November 2013 

The government it seems is keen on finding ways to waste public money. After spending billions of public funds to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which was attended only by 21 out of 54 heads of Commonwealth nations, the government mechanism is now working towards holding night motor races in Colombo next month.

The night motor races are organized by the Carlton Motor Sports Club headed by the President’s son Yoshitha Rajapaksa.
The President’s youngest son, Rohitha Rajapaksa participates in the races while eldest son, Namal Rajapaksa plays host to the VIPs and gets down Indian film stars and models for the event.

In short, the Carlton night races are for the Rajapaksa sons to race and enjoy with their friends in Colombo.

The night races also gobble millions of public funds.

The event does not pay any taxes due to the Colombo Municipal Council, cars for the races are brought down without paying taxes and all structures necessary for the races are put up by Sri Lanka Army soldiers.

The CMC lost Rs. 2.9 million from the Colombo Night Races last year after Western Province Chief Minister Prassana Ranathunga gave instructions for the CMC not to charge a tax on the tickets sold for the event.

Under local laws when such an event or carnival is staged in the Colombo Municipal Council limits a tax is imposed on each ticket sold.

The Carlton Motor Sports Club also deprived the Treasury of receiving over Rs. 200 million in the form of vehicle import duties in the importation of 19 vehicles for last year’s Colombo Night Races.

Land grabs continue in Mullaitheevu

26 November 2013
Days after the camera crews surrounding the British Premier left, yet more land grab continues, with over 25 acres to be given to 22 Sinhala settler families in Kokuthodduvai, Mullaitheevu district, report Uthayan and TamilWin on Monday.

Thurairaasa Ravikaran, a Northern Provincial member, said he visited the area after locals compained about trees being cut down and land cleared by people speaking Sinhala.

Photograph TamilWin

When questioned by Mr Ravikaran, the men reportedly replied that they were working as part of a contract for the Mahavali Development plan, which would resettle 22 Sinhala families in the area and allow them to plant mango trees.

Mr Ravikaran, who was being followed by Sri Lankan military officers through out his visit to the area, reportedly told the officers "I'm here to question the unacceptable land grabs, I'm here to give voice, it will be on the media tomorrow and there's no need to follow me around."

Speaking to the press afterwards, Mr Ravikaran said that the incident was nothing but a planned land grab of Tamil land,  aimed at tearing apart the Tamil nation, as Mullaitheevu is in the heart of it, connecting the North and the East.

Mr Ravikaran said, this would never have happened if the 'guardians of these lands' were here.

SL military operatives attack houses of Tamil councillors in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 November 2013, 22:30 GMT]
Sri Lankan military operatives who came in vehicles to the houses of Mr Sathees, the deputy head of Valveddith-thu'rai Urban Council and Mr Viyakes, the chairman of Karaveddi South-West Piratheasa Chapai attacked the houses threatening the family members, who were at sleep in the early hours of Tuesday. The squad smashed the windows of the houses and the vehicles at the houses threatening the families of the elected representatives. The councillors were targeted for their floral tributes in remembrance of the tens of thousands who have sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the nation of Eezham Tamils. The attacks come a few hours after the SL military spokesperson in Colombo stating that all remembrance activities were banned. 

The first attack was reported around 2:00 a.m. 

Karaveddi South-West Pirathesa Chapai on Monday paid homage to the fallen Tamil Heroes with a floral tribute by all the members of the civic body. 

The VVT Urban Council, recently won a case to proceed with raising a Public Park at Theeruvil where the occupying Sri Lankan military had bulldozed three key memorial monuments in 2010. 

In the meantime, there are also reports of various harassments targeting the NPC members in North. 

The house of Tamil councillor Mr Viyakes was attacked by SL military operatives in the early hours of Tuesday.

Systematic land grab “at its peak in Mullaitivu” amid military intimidations

26 NOVEMBER 2013

BY RAMANAN VEERASINGHAM

Aiming to geographically divide the traditional homeland of the Tamil people, the Colombo government has engaged in a systematic land grab in full-scale in the North-Eastern Mullaitivu district under the guise of implementing the Mahawali Development Projects, a media report from northern Jaffna peninsula said on Tuesday.

“Land grab by the government in Mullaitivu is at its peak now. 22 Sinhalese from the South have been allocated 25 acres of Tamil land slots each near Koddaikerni Pillaiyar temple at Kokkuthoduvai in Mullaitivu, under the Mahawali Development Project,” Jaffna-based Uthayan newspaper, has quoted Northern Provincial Councillor Thurairajah Ravikaran as saying on Tuesday.

According to Uthayan, the member of the newly elected Northern Provincial Council has visited the military garrison-town of Mullaitivu where the systematic military land grab was taking place, despite many protests and objections.

600 acre mango plantation

“Two teams of Sinhalese workers have been actively deployed to deforest these areas using heavy machines. When inquired, they humbly told me that they have been given the contract to deforest this area, before handing them over to Sinhalese people (25 acres each) from the South to plant mango trees in 600 acre area. They told me that they have brought along with them the mango plants for this new project, designated under the Mahaweli Development Project,” the Provincial Councillor has said, adding that the military in the area was giving full protection to this programme.

Mullaitivu was formerly the military headquarters of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who were militarily defeated in a bloody war in May 2009. According to independent estimates, over 140,000 innocent Tamil people, including women and children, have been killed and several hundred thousand have been maimed during the final months of the war.

“At a time when our people are flatly denied their basic rights to be resettled in their traditional homelands in the Northern and Eastern provinces, the government is distributing their lands to the Sinhalese people from the South for cultivation. This is nothing but a systematic land grab by the state. This is aimed at geographically dividing the Northern and Eastern Provinces, which has been our traditional homeland. This wouldn’t have happened if our protectors had still been existing,” Northern Provincial Councillor Ravikaran has told Uthayan.

Commemorations banned

Meanwhile, the military has stepped up its campaign of intimidation on the eve of the Heroes’ Day commemorations. Banning any such commemorating events, Sri Lankan military has stepped up random road-checks, road-blocks and search operations in Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi areas.

According to latest reports from the North, head of the Jaffna University Teachers’ Association, Amirthalingam Rajakumaran, has been summoned to the Terrorism Investigation Division for inquiries, in relation to a report relating to Heroes’ Week commemorations. A Jaffna-based media quoting the Jaffna University Teachers’ Association has reported on Monday that “no one has the right to ban the Heroes’ Week Commemorations as it was the LTTE which was banned, but not the fallen heroes”.

Elected civic members in Jaffna pay tribute to Tamil Heroes, SL military retaliates

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 November 2013, 21:46 GMT]
The elected civic members of Karaveddi South-West Piratheasa Chapai (PS) on Monday paid floral tribute to the fallen Tamil Heroes, who were remembering the fallen fighters in the independence struggle of Eezham Tamils. The courageous move comes on the same day as Colombo’s military establishment issued a ban on commemorating the fallen Tamil fighters on November 27. Within a few hours, alleged SL military squads smashed the windows of two Tamil councillors. This year, the moral responsibility to mark the Heroes Day has fallen on the shoulders of the members of the Tamil National Alliance as they had gone seeking votes from the public in the recent elections to the Northern Provincial Council promising the people to restore their democratic right of remembering those who sacrificed their lives in the war. 

The house of Tamil councillor Mr Viyakes was attacked by SL military operatives in the early hours of Tuesday.

Since 2009, the University student community was fighting for the collective right of remembering those who sacrificed their lives in Tamil struggle.

Last year, the SL military establishment, attacked Jaffna University students at the female hostel while they were observing a memorial event on Heroes Day and the following day, the student community staged a peaceful protest against the brutality of the SL military. Armed military and police commandos attacked the peaceful rally and the student leaders were later forced to turn themselves at the hands of Colombo’s Terrorist Investigation Division that sent the student leaders for a prolonged ‘military rehabilitation’, a move which was vehemently opposed by the University community including the Teachers Union. 

University of Jaffna is shut down till 02 December this year following the instructions by Colombo. 

The Sri Lankan military Establishment has come with an official warning in Colombo on Monday. Promoting and propagating “separatist ideology within Sri Lanka directly or indirectly, even by using media freedom, and attempting to commemorate or glorify terrorists that belonged to a proscribed organisation would be illegal,” it proclaimed. 

Latest reports from Nelliyadi said that the SL military intelligence operatives were attacking and threatening the elected members. The journalists and photographers have also been warned against disseminating the news of the remembrance events being observed by the democratically elected Tamil councillors. 

The chair of Karaveddi South-West civic body Mr P. Viyakes, who presided over the remembrance event was questioned by the intelligence operatives, news sources in Vadamaraadchi said. A group of attackers smashed the windows of his house and vehicle in the early hours of Tuesday.



Tamil Heroes Day is to be observed in unity among the Tamil Diaspora across the globe this year. 

In Tamil Nadu, the Day would be marked across the State, as well as at the recently opened memorial site, Mu’l’livaaykkaal Muttam, at Thanjaavoor.

Prabhakaran - He is a Special humanistic character - Tilak Kodagoda ( Sri lanka vanguard Party)

Details

 

Created On Tuesday, 26 November 2013 14:39

Kodagoda was a Journalist and Political activist until the end of the War (in Sri Lanka) and then metamorphoses in to expressionist Painter in a Western context. His Art product can be categorize under the theme of Conceptual art.

But he expresses himself as non-artist. His condition is "absurd". From the view of the 21st century in a so called Sinhala Empire( because Tamils are colonised under the Sinhala regime now) the most persistence questions hunting western museums ever since the understanding of different kettle of expressions is the "place of Other" or Other`s discourses.

 The Kodagoda`s visual imagination is emerged after his War time experiences as a dissenter against the essential beliefs and values of both of Sinhala Chauvinist culture and traditional political philosophy. His massage is empty and his discourse is silent. Please look at his 

Blog page, kodagodalankart.blogspot.com- Interviewed by Manjula Wediwardane -

Prabhakaran - He is a Special Humanistic Character - Tilak Kodagoda ( Sri Lanka Vanguard Party) by nelvely

Honouring Eelam martyrs : When Mauritius could do it, Tamil Nadu falls short

by Karthiyayini on November 25, 2013 

Chennai, Nov 25 (TruthDive): Tamil Nadu has failed miserably and fallen short in honouring the martyrs of Eelam war  while Mauritius could do so with all honours.

A monument has been erected by the Beau Bassin Rose Hill Municipal Council on 18th May 2012 to mark the third anniversary of the Mullivaikkal genocide in the Council premises to mourn the Tamil soldiers who died in the bloodied Sri Lankan civil war.

Complying to the demands of the Mauritius Tamil Temple Federation (MTTF), the Mayor of Beau Bassin Rose Hill, Louis Andre Toussaint, has erected a pillar in memory of the Eelam martyrs.

The epitaph in the memorial reads: ‘THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO THOSE 146,679 TAMILS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES INNOCENTLY AND 40,000 REPORTED LOST IN DEFENCE OF THEIR BELOVED MOTHERLAND IN SRI LANKA’ (Courtesy: The Weekend Leader).

Mauritius is a country that has a high regard and respect for human rights and hence there was absolutely no second thought in accepting the proposal put forth by the MTTF, opined the Mayor.

Mauritius, a land comprising of 10% of ethnic Tamil-Mauritians could recognize  the losses Tamils suffered under the brutal Mahinda Rajapkse regime in a ‘war waged without witnesses’.

In a fitting reply to a country accused of war crimes and human rights abuses, Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Chandra Ramgoolam boycotted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM ) held recently in Sri Lanka and had also decided not to host the  next Commonwealth summit in 2015 in his country, saying there was “total lack of accountability” about human rights abuses during the Sri Lankan ethnic strife.

On the contrary,though Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to stay away from the Commonwealth meet held in Sri Lanka, largely pressured by political parties in Tamil Nadu, the External affairs Minister Salman Khurshid attended CHOGM in Sri Lanka, observing that India has a very important relationship with Sri Lanka and that he did not see it as a ‘switch-on-switch-off’ affair.

What did Tamil Nadu do in the same context? Ulaga Thamizhar Peramaippu spearheaded by Pazha Nedumaran commissioned a memorial for the dead Tamils in Sri Lankan war in the first week of this November near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu named, ‘Mullivaikkal Ninaivu Muttram’,to leave traces of a bloody war in the pages of history, that killed hundreds of thousands of Tamils. The memorial presents a heart-rending picture of  sculptures of wailing mothers, dead bodies and broken limbs, depicting the untold misery and pain suffered by Tamils in the war.

A portion of the compound wall of the Mullivaikkal Memorial was demolished by the police and the Department of Highways, post its inaugural, citing encroachment. The 24,000-square feet area was also fenced off with wire mesh, declaring that the area belonged to the department of Highways.

Pazha Nedumaran was arrested by the Thanjavur police for protesting against the demolition along with other protesters and later released on bail.

Mauritius with just about 10% of Tamil population could boldly do to honour the Eelam martyrs. Tamil Nadu has yet again proved its deficiency in addressing the cause of Eelam Tamils.

As always, the hue and cry raised by the political parties of Tamil Nadu in support of Eelam Tamils remains a  meaningless farce and for their own political benefit.

People Kill People, not guns?

Brian Figeroux

Controversial study links US white gun ownership to racism digitaljournal.com

An international scientific study linking firearms ownership by white Americans with racism and resistance to gun control has raised eyebrows and ire in the United States.

Controversial study links US white gun ownership to racism

By Brett Wilkins-Nov 12, 2013

An international scientific study linking firearms ownership by white Americans with racism and resistance to gun control has raised eyebrows and ire in the United States.

Researchers from the University of Manchester in Britain, Monash University in Australia and other universities published the findings of their study, "Racism, Gun Ownership and Gun Control: Biased Attitudes in US Whites May Influence Policy Decisions," in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS One late last month.

"Racism is related to policy preferences and behaviors that directly affect blacks and appear related to a fear of blacks (e.g., increased policing, death penalty)," the study abstract begins.

The abstract continues:

After accounting for all explanatory variables, logistic regressions found that for each one point increase in symbolic racism there was a 50 percent increase in the odds of having a gun at home. After also accounting for having a gun in the home, there was still a 28 percent increase in support for permits to carry concealed handguns, for each one point in symbolic racism.

It concludes:

Symbolic racism was related to having a gun in the home and opposition to gun control policies in US whites. The findings help explain US whites' paradoxical attitudes towards gun ownership and gun control. Such attitudes may adversely influence US gun control policy debates and decisions.

The study's researchers, led by Monash University behavioral studies professor Dr. Kerry O'Brien, analyzed data from the American National Election Studies (ANES), which provided a large representative sampling of voter information. Explanatory variables linked to gun ownership and opposition to gun control, such as age, gender, education, geography, income, political self-identification and anti-government sentiment, were entered in logistical regression models. So were indicators of racism, as well as stereotypes about violent black men or, as renowned American professor and author Michelle Alexander termed the object of whites' racialized fear of blacks, "criminalblackman."

"Coming from countries with strong gun control policies, and a 30-fold lower rate of gun-related homicides, we found the arguments for opposing gun control counterintuitive and somewhat illogical," said O'Brien, whose researchers were mainly British, Australian and New Zealander. "For example, US whites oppose gun control to a far greater extent than do blacks (by a 20 point margin, according to a January Pew Research survey), but whites are actually more likely to kill themselves with their guns, than be killed by someone else."

"The study is a first step, but there needs to be more investment in empirical research around how racial bias may influence people's policy decisions, particularly those policies that impact on the health and wellbeing of US citizens," added O'Brien.

The study did not examine the historic role of racism in enacting gun control legislation targeting blacks. Anti-black gun control laws date back to at least 1751 and the French Black Code in the Louisiana Territory. In the US era, white fear of blacks led numerous states and territories to ban blacks from firearms ownership.

More recently, the National Rifle Association (NRA), once a steadfast supporter of gun control, backed restrictions passed in 1968 that were firmly rooted in fear of black crime. The Black Panther Party's successful campaign to legally and constitutionally arm blacks for their own self-defense and to 'police the police' who were terrorizing black communities was met with alarmed opposition from conservative leaders such as California Governor Ronald Reagan, who declared that there was "no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons," even though citizens have the constitutional right to do precisely that.

Unsurprisingly, gun advocates slammed the study's findings, many without even analyzing or understanding the data.

Fox News' Greg Gutfeld derided "some foreign researchers" who "published a study saying that owning a gun makes you racist," yet another false statement from a network still reeling following its airing of a fabricated transphobic report. The study does not state that gun owners are racist, although it did find that racists are more likely to own guns.

Gutfeld also opined that the study's authors are "probably in the KKK" (Ku Klux Klan).

Dave Workman, editor of the Second Amendment Foundation magazine, called the research "preposterous."

"I think the notion that someone is trying to tie gun ownership to racism is silly," Workman told the Washington Times.

According to the Congressional Research Service, there are as many firearms as people in the United States. More than 30,000 people are killed each year by guns in the US, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports, making firearms the second leading cause of non-medical death in the United States. It is estimated that guns will supplant motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of non-medical US death by 2015.